Who was the first human being to travel into space?
- A.Neil Armstrong
- B.Yuri Gagarin
- C.Alan Shepard
- D.Alexei Leonov
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Yuri Gagarin. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin circled the earth once aboard Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961 and became the first human being in space, a flight that lasted about one hour and forty eight minutes. The day is observed every year as the International Day of Human Space Flight. Valentina Tereshkova of the same country became the first woman in space in 1963.
Option A, Neil Armstrong, was the first person to set foot on the Moon, in July 1969, which is a different first. Option C, Alan Shepard, was the first American in space, a few weeks after Gagarin, and later walked on the Moon with Apollo 14. Option D, Alexei Leonov, made the first walk in space outside a spacecraft in 1965. All four are genuine names, so the exact first must be remembered.
Read the full article: Space Agencies and Missions of the World: Exam Notes
Practice Questions
View allWhat is the expansion of NASA?
- A.National Agency of Space Administration
- B.Navigational Aeronautics and Space Administration
- C.National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- D.National Aeronautics and Space Agency
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NASA is the civilian space agency of the United States, established in 1958 after the launch of Sputnik, with its headquarters at Washington DC.
Read the full explanation →The Indian Space Research Organisation was formed in which year?
- A.1962
- B.1969
- C.1972
- D.1975
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ISRO was formed on 15 August 1969, taking over the space work that had been carried on since 1962 by the Indian National Committee for Space Research.
Read the full explanation →Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite of the earth, was launched in 1957 by which country?
- A.United States
- B.Soviet Union
- C.United Kingdom
- D.France
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Sputnik 1 was launched on 4 October 1957 and became the first artificial satellite to circle the earth, sending out a simple radio signal that stations across the world could hear.
Read the full explanation →What was the name of the first Indian satellite, launched in 1975?
- A.Rohini
- B.Bhaskara
- C.Aryabhata
- D.INSAT-1A
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India's first satellite was named after the ancient astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata and was launched on 19 April 1975 from a Soviet site, since India did not yet have a launch vehicle of its own.
Read the full explanation →India's Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan, entered the orbit of Mars in which year?
- A.2008
- B.2013
- C.2014
- D.2019
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The Mars Orbiter Mission was launched on 5 November 2013 by a PSLV rocket and was placed in orbit around Mars on 24 September 2014.
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